Flight of a Phoenix
by TimeForWolves
Summary: SEQUEL TO THE PLAN OF BLACK Hogwarts is over. The Order of the Phoenix is recruiting fighters to counter those that follow the Dark Lord and the Marauders and their friends suddenly find themselves caught up in the chaos of war, realising for the first time that none of them may make it out alive. Rated T for swearing and implied torture. Disclaimer in first chapter
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Here's it is, the sequel you've all been waiting for. If you haven't read 'Th Plan of Black' I advise you go back and read it, this won't make half as much sense otherwise. Well enjoy, this is an especially long chapter to kickstart you off..**

 **Diclaimer - all belongs to the wonderful Jo x**

 **Please read and review x especially to tell me what you think of this :)**

 **Flight of a Phoenix**

Chapter 1

The morning of Alice Prewett's wedding day dawned bight and with promises of sunshine and clear blue skies, which was positive considering it was May and the weather of the past week has been miserable.

Marlene woke up at seven o'clock that morning to the sound of Alice racing around her flat frantically trying to find breakfast in the chaos of Marlene's kitchen. "I can't find a spoon anywhere, how often do you do the washing up?"

"As little as I can help it," Marlene groaned, shuffling into the kitchen wrapped in her duvet. Lily and Alice had taken her bed while Marlene, being the gracious host she was, had slept on the sofa. She was regretting it now however as she felt the knots in her neck. "Where's Lils?"

"Still asleep," Alice said, pulling out a spoon from the pile of dirty cutlery and cleaning it with her wand. "Seriously Marls, you're a witch, you don't need to trouble with this stuff." She waved her wand again and instantly all the plates and bowls lying around were cleaned and flew across the room to land neatly in the cupboard.

Marlene scowled and shuffled across to the sink, still wrapped in her duvet and pulled out a glass, filling it with water before drinking a bit then looking back up at her friend, "You excited?"

"You mean about my forthcoming wedding, yeah I am." Alice smiled as she stared into space then she shook herself and shrugged. "Augusta has taken over most of the preparations so I'm not even quite sure what to expect."

Marlene grinned, "I don't know how you do it," she laughed.

Alice shrugged, "I want everyone to know that Frank is mine and I'm his, I love him so much and I want to show everyone that." She looked at Marlene slyly, "What about you Marls? You see yourself getting married?"

Marlene scoffed, "Me? No, I don't do that kind of thing and neither does Sirius."

"It might not have to be with Sirius," Alice shrugged, "Five years down the line you could be with someone completely different."

Marlene frowned, "I don't look that far ahead Alice." The doorbell rang and Marlene placed the glass of water down and turned towards the front door. "Talk of the devil," she muttered to her friend and went to open the front door, catching sight of herself in the landing's mirror before she did. Marlene sighed, she looked a mess; her hair messy at the back, no makeup on and wrapped up in a duvet looking like she'd just crawled out of bed. Well, she had just crawled out of bed but she didn't need to look like it. Shaking her head at herself, she opened the door anyway to reveal Sirius Black standing in the doorstep holding a bunch of flowers. He looked up at her, eyes growing wide for a second then he smirked, "Morning gorgeous."

Marlene glared at him then turned around and headed back towards the kitchen, Sirius following her, grinning at her tangled hair happily. "What are you doing here?" Alice stared at him when he entered.

"To see how our blushing bride is on this fine morning," Sirius said. "And to give you these from your intended." He offered her the flowers and Alice reached forwards to take them, rolling her eyes lightly but unable to stop the grin from spreading over her face.

Sirius looked at Marlene and laughed at her, "You're adorable, McKinnon." He leaned towards her but Marlene pushed him back scowling.

"Don't come near, my breath is rank."

Sirius just laughed and kissed her on the forehead instead which Marlene allowed with a playful scowl in his direction. "Right," she said, ditching the duvet and chucking it onto one of the table chairs. She was wearing a baggy oversized shirt and cotton shorts and she looked down at her outfit in disdain. "I'm going to get changed."

"Oh no, don't do that!" Sirius called after her, "The rumpled look really does it for you!"

Marlene showed him her middle finger as she walked up the stairs towards her room and Sirius laughed and took the cup of coffee Alice offered him. "I wondered where that shirt got to," he muttered, staring at the place his girlfriend had disappeared.

Alice laughed and started putting sugar into her coffee. "Seriously, I don't know how that girl manages to live on her own, this place is complete chaos." She pulled the spoon out of the cup and threw it across so it landed in the sink with a loud clatter.

Sirius smirked over the rim of his cup, "I don't know how she does half the things I've seen her do."

Alice pulled a face, "Please, Black - keep your sex stories to yourself."

"Oh haha," Sirius shook his head, "I didn't mean it like that."

Alice just wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Sirius shook his head again, disgusted. "How are you feeling about your upcoming nuptials?" He asked, carefully changing the subject.

"Great! Fine and fucking dandy!" Alice replied.

Sirius just raised his eyebrow.

Alice's face fell, "I'm absolutely shitting it."

Sirius nodded sympathetically, "You'll be fine, you've basically been married to Frank these past three and a half years anyway, what difference does it make?"

"It's just so...concrete," Alice muttered. "I haven't been with anyone else apart from him, what if I'm missing out on something?"

Sirius snorted, "You're not really."

"I haven't told Marlene and Lily about this, they'd just freak out and overreact. I want to marry Frank but..."

"You're scared as to what it'll mean, that it'll change your relationship," Sirius finished for her.

Alice nodded. She seemed to be looking at Sirius for reassurance but he was always crap at the whole 'feelings talk' so he just decided to say it how it was. "You love Frank?"

She nodded.

"Frank loves you? Well I guess he must or he wouldn't have proposed."

Alice nodded again.

"Well isn't that really what matters?" Sirius shrugged, "At the end of the day it's just signing your name on a piece of paper and saying some words in front of a bunch of friends."

Alice sighed, hanging her head and told him what was really bothering her, "Augusta's organised the whole thing, it's going to be way more flamboyant than I want."

Sirius put his head back and laughed, "That's what's causing you to have cold feet?" He asked, still chuckling. "Tell you what Prewett; go through with this, smile and be happy, and I'll let you hand Frank have a go on my motorcycle, agreed?"

Alice looked at him for a moment. She knew that Frank had always wanted to try that flying motorcycle out and she herself had had a secret desire to see what it was like. She nodded and stuck out her hand, "You've got yourself a deal, Black."

Sirius grinned and shook her hand just as Lily came down the stairs wearing barely anything except a pair of knickers and a vest top.

She let out a shriek of surprise when she saw Sirius standing in the kitchen and Sirius slapped a hand over his eyes. "I didn't see anything!" He cried dramatically. "James cannot do anything to me when I didn't see anything!"

Lily scowled and ran up the stairs. Sirius could hear her yelling at Marlene for not warning her and Marlene's infectious laughter drifting down the stairs.

"Well I think that's my cue to leave," Sirius said, backing towards the door just as Marlene bounded down the stairs wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, her long curly hair tied back in a messy pony-tail. "Bye Marley, see you later."

Marlene grinned and pulled him down by the front of his jacket so she could kiss him before practically shoving him back out the door, "Bye gorgeous!" She called, laughing as the front door closed.

She turned around to find Alice staring at her, "What?"

"You're mental," Alice said. "Crazy woman."

Marlene shook her head and grabbed the cup of coffee off her friend, dumping it in the sink. "There'll be time for judgements later, right now, we've got a wedding to prepare for!"

* * *

Half past twelve arrived and James could tell that Frank was getting nervous. He kept fidgeting with the sleeves of his dress robes and looked like he was about to throw up. His long floppy hair had been left untamed and James narrowed his eyes as he tried to flatten his own hair to no avail. Sighing, he let his arms drop to his sides as Sirius entered the room and stared at him.

"What?" James said, spinning around towards the mirror to look himself over for what his best friend was staring at.

He could see Sirius' reflection smirking, "Honestly Prongs, I don't think I've ever seen you try to FLATTEN your hair before."

James glared at him but couldn't stop the small grin creeping onto his face.

"Well there's a flower for you," Sirius continued, tossing James a little white buttonhole flower then turning to Frank and sighing, "Your mother has insisted that we all wear them."

Frank laughed nervously, "Sounds like her."

"It's probably the least manly thing I've had to do ever since that time in third year when James dared me to dress as a girl for a day!" Sirius continued grumpily. He was already wearing his and he stared at it morosely.

Frank and James both chuckled at the memory, Sirius had looked extremely attractive as a girl. "Don't know why you didn't keep the look Pads, it suited you."

It was Sirius' turn to glare at James.

"James, do you know where Pete left his tie?" Remus called, entering the room wearing his own flower and glancing around at his friends with his eyebrows raised.

"Don't you look handsome Moony!" Sirius exclaimed, "You'll have girls fawning all over you tonight!"

Remus snorted and didn't reply.

"It's here mate," James said, holding out a purple tie. "Ready to play best man?"

"I still don't know why you asked me," Remus said to Frank, shaking his head.

"Because," Frank said, crossing his arms, "I thought you were the person least likely to come up with any bullshit in the speech."

Remus laughed and nodded, "Fair point."

"Oh I could write a decent speech!" Sirius exclaimed. "Just you wait till James' wedding then you'll see!"

"Fucks sake Padfoot, I haven't even asked her to marry me yet!" James scowled.

"Yes but you will," Sirius said confidently. "Please make it within the year, I don't want to loose any more money to McKinnon."

"You made a bet?" James spluttered but Remus cut him off.

"Time to go!" He called briskly.

They couldn't apparate right to the wedding venue due to the protective enchantments surrounding the area. It was a necessary precaution, Frank said. "There's going to be the majority of the Order there as well as plenty of Aurors."

The five men made their way up the hill to the large marquee at the top, overlooking the sea. There were already lots of people gathered there and as Frank made his way through, followed by the marauders, a loud cheer went up and people clapped him on the back as he passed them.

"Never knew he was so popular," Sirius joked to James and Peter as they led the congregation through to the seats. Remus stood next to Frank and the three others sat down in the front row.

"Wonder where those girls are?" James mused quietly, "How long does it take women to get ready for a party?"

"They were far from ready when I left them this morning," Sirius muttered to himself quietly.

Peter looked up at him and grinned, "Bet you gave them a surprise."

"Most of them," Sirius chuckled.

* * *

The wedding itself was an amazing ceremony: Alice looked stunning in a simple dress of cream satin and lace, Marlene and Lily in knee-length dresses of blue and green. Both girls cried, even James looked like he was about to shed a tear or two as Alice and Frank said their vows and his girlfriend sobbed into a handkerchief next to him while Sirius laughed silently at Marlene who wasn't being as noisy with her tears as Lily. After the wedding bit was over, Alice threw her bouquet of flowers straight at Lily who caught them, blushing bright red to match her hair. Augusta, Frank's mother hugged both of them, sniffing haughtily but clutching a handkerchief to her chest all the same, Remus delivered a great speech, lingering on the fact that everyone had been waiting for this day to come since fifth year and the food was delicious.

Once all the tables were cleared away, Alice and Frank danced their first dance together as a married couple. Frank was actually very graceful considering how long and lanky he normally was. James and Lily took to the floor after them and soon a lot of other couples were joining them.

Sirius leant back in his chair and watched them blissfully as he waited for Marlene to come back with drinks. Remus dropped into a seat next to him, out of breath from dancing.

Sirius grinned at him, "You sound like you've been swept off your feet Moons."

Remus laughed and fanned himself to cool down with one of the left over menus. "That Dorcas Meadowes has dragged me into dancing with her for the past three dances."

Sirius squinted, "Dorcas Meadowes? As in from our year at Hogwarts?"

Remus nodded, "Yeah, Pete asked her out at the beginning of seventh year remember? She's working in the Auror department with Alice and Frank now, quite an interesting character." He grinned, "Why you not dancing?"

Sirius gestured to the bar, barely glancing at it as he did so, "Marlene's taking forever to get drinks."

Remus turned around to look and frowned, "Isn't that Fabian Prewett? Alice's cousin?"

Sirius twisted around in his seat to look at the tall handsome red head chatting animatedly to Marlene who was laughing at something he was saying. His eyes narrowed and he got up, leaving Remus who just smirked at his friend and stood up, catching a glass of champagne off a tray as a waiter walked past him.

* * *

"So then me and Gid walked into the kitchen and Molly was just sitting there, feeding little Bill the same stuff we just mixed up with butterbeer. She was fuming when she found out!"

Marlene laughed, "Is Molly here today?"

Fabian grinned, "Yeah, she's over there with Arthur. She left the kids at home with a babysitter which is so unlike her, I think she's just getting tired and wanted a break."

Marlene was about to reply but the sound of someone clearing their throat cut her off. She turned to find Sirius standing behind her and she smiled at him, "Hey, Sirius. I think you've met Fabian before?"

Fabian grinned and stuck out his hand, "Hey Sirius, haven't seen you in ages!"

Sirius smiled back and shook hands with the Prewett twin. "Not in a while no, where's Gideon?"

"Over there somewhere," Fabian waved his hand in the direction of the opposite end of the marquee.

Sirius nodded gestured to Marlene, "You wouldn't mind if I stole Marlene for a dance now?"

Fabian smiled at him a little unsurely then glanced at Marlene who was smirking at something, "Go ahead."

Sirius grabbed Marlene's hand and pulled her towards the dancers, spinning her around so they were pressed together. A slower song came on and Marlene was still smirking as she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him, "What's with the hostile attitude, Sirius?"

Sirius shrugged and placed his hands on her waist, swaying them slowly to the music.

Marlene grinned, "Please don't tell me you were jealous?" When Sirius didn't answer she gasped in mock surprise. "Oh Merlin, you were jealous!"

Sirius glared at her and Marlene laughed, "Don't you worry Black, you're the only one for me at this party." She pulled him down so she could press her lips to his.

Sirius relaxed under her grip and kissed her back, not particularly caring that they were in the middle of a crowd of dancers. Marlene was his and no one was going to take her from him.

"Just in future though," Marlene said, pulling away and eyeing him. He raised an eyebrow in inquisitively. "Jealousy is unattractive, don't let it ruin your looks honey."

Sirius chuckled, "I'll bear that in mind," he said and twirled her around so her blonde hair flew out around her.

 **A/N Please review to tell me what you think of it so far and whether it's worth carrying in or not.**

 **Thanks for reading x**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N This is I think, the longest chapter I've ever written for fanfiction, hope you enjoy it:)**

 **Diclaimer - all belongs to the wonderful Jo x**

 **Please read and review x especially to tell me what you think of this :)**

 **Flight of a Phoenix**

Chapter 2

"Let me get this straight," James snapped. "You're saying that half the Auror department is out of action?"

Lily watched her boyfriend nervously, her own heart sinking in her chest. This was bad, bad enough for Alastor Moody to come and tell them himself.

James' face was pale and he froze, "Sirius? What about dad?"

"Both made it out in time, Potter," Moody said gruffly. "Turns out Black was bunking off training anyway so I suppose that's a blessing," the Auror scowled like he didn't really mean that.

James breathed out in relief but he still looked a bit sick. "I should've been there," he muttered. "Fucking Death Eaters had someone on the inside."

"Be bloody glad you weren't there Potter," Moody growled, stopping over to James and fixing him with a glare. "You have potential but we can't afford to loose any more Order members than we already have. Both the Prewett's are in St Mungos and Meadowes has just been released but isn't allowed to train for the next few days, it could've been a lot worse."

James nodded, not saying anything.

Lily smiled sadly at Moody and nodded, "Thanks Alastor."

Moody huffed and walked towards the door, "Meeting on Wednesday, Potter, Evans. Make sure you're there!"

The door slammed and James breathed out, banging his head down onto the counter. Lily sighed and walked over behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle from behind and pressing her face into his back. She could feel him start to relax but when he spoke, his voice was still pained, "I should've been there."

Lily let go of him and pulled him up, turning him to face her, "James it's not your fault. If you'd been there you'd probably be in St Mungos right now or worse." Her voice wavered slightly but she continued. "Your dad is fine, Sirius is fine... You're fine. Hold onto that."

James gabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her hair. Lily pressed her face into his chest and breathed in his familiar smell.

"Sometimes I wonder what we're doing in this war Lil," he muttered and Lily felt him sigh. "Any one of us could die any moment and...and I can't live with out you."

Lily pulled back and lifted a hand to cup his face, "That's why we're fighting James; because we want to live - not just wait around to die."

"I love you Lily," James whispered and Lily could see in his eyes that he felt more vulnerable than she'd ever seen him. She pulled him down again and hugged him so tightly she never wanted to let go.

* * *

Remus knocked on the door of the flat he knew was Dorcas's. He didn't know exactly what he was going to say to her when she opened it but he didn't care. James had only just told him about the attack on the Auror department and he'd rushed straight to the brunette's flat.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out shakily, he pressed the doorbell and stepped back. It was a ordinary little flat on the end of a row of flats that looked exactly the same except for different coloured doors. Dorcas's door was painted blue, the same colour as the Ravenclaw badge and Remus smirked to himself slightly when he saw the little eagle scratched into the wood above the letterbox. The smirk left his face however when the door opened and he saw Dorcas standing on the threshold. She had a healed cut across one cheek and a crescent moon shaped bruise lining her eye socket which was a purple colour. Her eyes grew wide in surprise to find him standing on her doorstep and she raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Remus? What are you doing here?"

He realised he was staring at her and promptly looked away. "I heard about the attack," he shrugged, trying to make it look like it wasn't a big deal. "I was passing so I thought I'd come and see how you were?"

Dorcas smiled and lent on the door, "I should probably ask you an identity question to check you're really you. Mad-Eye is insisting on it now."

"Mad-Eye, is that a new nickname?"

Dorcas's smile grew wider, "Because of his new eye, Black started it and it just suits him."

Remus chuckled, sticking his hands deep into his pockets. "Of course it would be Sirius who started it. What's your question then?"

"Are you Remus John Lupin?"

Remus laughed out loud and nodded, "How did you know my middle name?"

Dorcas smirked and opened the door wider, "I have my sources. It's a stupid system, I mean if you were a Death Eater you would've killed me by now."

Remus walked into her small flat and chuckled as Dorcas shut the door. "Shoes off Marauder," she pointed at his feet and made her way past him into the tiny kitchen.

He kicked off his shoes and followed her. "So are you alright?" He asked while he stared around at her overly cluttered kitchen.

Dorcas scoffed as she pulled two mugs from the cupboard, "I'm fine, few scratches and I'm not allowed to go back to training for a couple of days. Going to die of boredom here but what can you do? You want tea?"

Remus nodded and looked at her. She was a short witch with long curly hair and big doe eyes. She was probably the most energetic person he'd ever met and Remus really found her energy refreshing. Today however she seemed to be putting it on, there was large bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and a slightly nervous look about the way she moved.

"You can come and hang out with my unemployed self," Remus joked. "I'm not the most popular person to employ due to certain factors."

Dorcas looked at him sadly, "Well they're missing out," she said matter-of-factly. She placed the cup of tea down in front of him and sat down as well at the rickety table.

Remus murmured his thanks and sipped his tea, feeling it burn his lips slightly but enjoying the warmth of the liquid travel down to the pit of his stomach. He shrugged, "I'm not the only one, Lily's found it hard to get work. The Death Eaters are everywhere spreading word that muggleborns are the scum of the earth so nobody wants to employ her."

"That's shit, I'm half-blood and its ridiculous how pure-bloods treat anyone who's blood has got just that little bit of muggle in," Dorcas was scowling now. "I can't stand it sometimes," she glanced sideways at him then drunk more tea.

Remus shrugged, "it's not that bad, we've both committed to the Order one hundred percent now. I'd never thought I'd say this but Lily's more keen for a fight than James and Sirius."

"Lily's sure got a fire in her," Dorcas said. "I remember all the times she exploded at James in Hogwarts, unbelievable that they're together now."

"Believe me," Remus chuckled, "I ask myself how it happened on a daily basis."

"And Black's with Marlene," Dorcas mused and Remus thought he knew where this was going. "Never thought he'd commit to a girl."

Remus shrugged, "Marlene definitely wrapped him around her little finger - it had to happen someday."

Dorcas hesitated then looked at him, "And what about you?"

There it was, what Remus had been predicting. He smirked, "No I'm not with anyone. Surely you knew that from Alice and Frank's wedding?"

"Well it's always good to make sure right?" Dorcas shrugged.

Remus smiled, "Yeah, I suppose it is."

* * *

"How are you?" Marlene asked, sitting down on the small chair next to Fabian's bed in St Mungos. She was wearing black clothes and had her hair tied back, ready to leave on a mission. She had just wanted to check on the Prewett brothers before hand.

Fabian grinned, both his eyes were black and bruised and he had two splintered ribs. "I'm all good McKinnon," he said cheerfully. "And where are you off to at this hour?"

Marlene glanced around checking for anyone in hearing range, "Moody got a tip off. Me and Caradoc are supposed to go down and check it out."

Fabian nodded, his face dropping. "You be careful, and look after Dearborn too, I'd hate to loose him on a mission."

Marlene smiled gently, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "Sirius wanted to go instead but that's stupid, he goes out on enough missions without me."

"He cares about you Marls, look after yourself for him." Fabian looked perfectly serious, "I don't think any of us would be able to contain him from going on a suicide mission if you died."

"Don't say that!" Marlene muttered, "You'll make me feel guilty and I have put even done anything!"

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Fabian said, reaching out and taking hold of her hand lightly, "I'm making sure you stay alive for him. He's a lucky man."

Marlene scoffed but smiled all the same, "Sure." She leant over and brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes before getting to her feet. "You get better now Fab, and thanks."

Fabian grinned, "S'not a problem Marls, good luck."

Marlene left him lying in the hospital wing next to his twin brother who was half asleep and walked out of the hospital, apparating to the spot where she was meeting Caradoc.

"Right on time as usual McKinnon," he joked as she walked over to stand beside him.

"Oh shut up," Marlene laughed quietly. "Where are we looking here?"

"Over there, there's a large abandoned where-house. Moody wanted us to go and check it out."

"Right," Marlene said, "Let's get this done."

* * *

"Marlene! You have to get out now!"

Marlene could hear Caradoc's screams echoing through the building but she herself was being cornered by two masked figures. She was trapped, there was no where to go except backwards and that surely lead into a trap. Not that this wasn't already a trap.

"Marlene?" One of the figures laughed, "It's a McKinnon."

Marlene felt her blood boil, that voice was one she heard in her dreams at night, every time she saw the knife slicing through the skin on her brother's throat. Bellatrix Black. Letting out a furious growl, Marlene flung herself at the witch, sending them both crashing to the floor. Bellatrix's mis-calculated spell missed Marlene and hit her companion, sending him crashing to the floor. Marlene forced the wand out of the other witch's grip and pointed her own at Bellatrix's throat, swiping away her mask and revealing her face, screwed up in a grimace as she tried to throw Marlene off her. Marlene pinned Bella's hands down with one hand and pressed her wand deeper into her neck but underestimated the Death Eater's strength. Her knee came up and hit Marlene in the stomach, winding her. In that moment of weakness, Bellatrix pushed Marlene off her and straddled her, using her knees to pin Marlene's hands to the ground.

"This is where I teach you a lesson you filthy blood-traitor!" Bellatrix hissed.

She was leaning down towards Marlene so close that Marlene couldn't see either side of her because her long, dank hair was hanging on either side of her face. She could feel the witch's breath on her skin, making it crawl in disgust.

Marlene looked up into Bellatrix's face and spat in her eye causing her to loosen her grip. Marlene wrenched her arms away and scrambled to her feet, grabbing her wand from the floor and making a dash for the exit. She could hear Bella racing after her screaming curses and Marlene felt a beam of red light singe the hair on the top of her head as she ducked. She ran as fast as she could, thankful for all the vigorous training James had used to put them through for Quidditch. She burst through a door and skidded to a halt at the sight in front of her; there were five Death Eaters all facing her and in their midst, Caradoc stood, being held roughly by a masked figure with a wand pressed at his throat. There was blood slowly leaking down the side of his face and Marlene bit her lip. She knew full well that if she moved for the open door, that tauntingly showed the street outside and the boundary which, if she got past, she could apparate away from, they would kill him instantly, probably finishing with him and moving onto her before she even got seven paces. She knew she couldn't. Couldn't leave Caradoc here to die on his own.

Bellatrix came up behind her and jabbed her wand at Marlene's back, "On your knees traitor."

Marlene didn't look at her but hissed, "Fuck you Black."

Bellatrix cackled manically, "Oh, haven't you heard? I'm not a Black anymore. It's Lestrange to you, Blood-traitor. Or didn't my little cousin tell you that?" She grabbed Marlene's shoulders and forced her down to her knees, still pointing her wand. Marlene could feel it digging into the back of her neck and knew that this was it.

"Where's dear Sirius now?" Bellatrix taunted her, "I'm going to make sure he barely recognises you before I kill you."

Marlene closed her eyes and didn't reply.

Suddenly a shout went up from outside, "Phoe -" but it was cut off and was followed by the thump of a body falling to the floor.

Bellatrix looked up, startled along with all the other Death Eaters and Marlene opened her eyes to see seven or eight Order members running down the hall towards them. Marlene saw Remus and Lily, expressions of fury and determination on their faces and she almost deflated in relief. The Death Eaters scattered as quickly as they had arrived and disappeared out into the night, running away instead of standing and fighting. Marlene felt the wand leave her neck and saw a struggling Bellatrix being dragged away by another Death Eater, screaming curses and frantically trying to escape and attack the newcomers but it was no use. They were now outnumbered, so they fled.

Marlene was just about to keel over onto the cold concrete floor but strong hands caught her and pulled her upright.

"Are you hurt?" Sirius said urgently, "Did she hurt you?"

Marlene could barely speak so she shook her head and gripped Sirius's leather jacket tightly, leaning on him to stop her knees giving out. He breathed out in obvious relief and wrapped his arms around her, almost smothering her in his embrace.

"Merlin you had me scared there," he muttered.

Marlene pulled back, "Caradoc?"

"I'm fine!" He called over to her. Lily was inspecting the long cut on his head and he looked a bit dizzy.

"You might feel a bit woozy," she said. "I'd go and just get it checked in St Mungos - I'm no Healer."

"You're amazing," Caradoc said dreamily and Lily smiled.

"You were very lucky," she said then turned towards Marlene. "Mar, you alright?"

Marlene shot her a rueful smile, "Fine, just got into a fight with Bellatrix but I'm fine." She was starting to feel giddy relief at just being alive.

Lily pursed her lips and nodded, "I'm glad your okay."

Marlene nodded as Remus gave her a brief one armed hug before going and side-along apparating Caradoc to St Mungos. She relaxed and leaned into Sirius who was staring ahead of him with a half angry, half relieved expression.

"Right McKinnon," Moody growled, stepping in front of her. "Tell me what happened, we got a tip off that it was an ambush half an hour ago. Tell me."

Marlene swallowed and straightened, taking her weight off Sirius so she could stand on her own. "It was sudden, they just came out of the dark. Obviously had been waiting for us but I don't think they knew how many of us it would be. There were about ten of them, I managed to take out two in here and Caradoc ran off, luring a few out the back. I don't know what happened to them after that but I could hear him struggling."

Moody listened to her story in silence, his new magical eye revolving around in it's socket. When she'd recalled everything up to when they'd arrived, he nodded his head. "Good, McKinnon, I advise you go home and get some rest. Remember, CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

Marlene relaxed back into Sirius as Moody turned away from her. He grabbed her hand and walked her out the door, "Come on, I'm taking you back to my place."

Marlene didn't argue just followed him quietly, apparating after him and arriving outside Sirius's flat. She followed him though to the kitchen, neither of them saying anything. Sirius sat her down at the table and shoved a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. "Eat," he said simply.

Marlene picked up her fork, "Sirius..." She trailed off.

"Just eat the goddamn food Marlene," he said urgently. "I can't, and I won't stop you fighting and risking your neck every time you go on a mission because there's no point - you'd go anyway. What I can do is make sure you're okay after these crazy missions Mad-Eye sends us on."

Marlene crumpled, "I thought I was going to die back there." She hid her head in her hands and rubbed her tired eyes. "I thought we weren't going to make it, and we wouldn't have if you hadn't arrived."

Sirius moved off his seat so fast that Marlene heard it move backwards. A second later he'd rounded the table and was crouched in front of her. "Marlene, I can't guarantee life, no one can. I don't know if we'll survive this war or not but I need you to not give up hope. I seriously don't know what I'd do if you died."

Marlene smiled sadly and traced the line of his jaw with the tips of her fingers, "I'm not about to give up Sirius."

"Good cause I fucking love you, you know that right?"

Marlene kissed him, lightly at first but Sirius deepened it almost instantly. Marlene wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him and pulled back slightly. "Yeah I think I've heard that before," she smirked and kissed him again, biting down gently on his bottom lip. Sirius gripped hold of her and stood up, easily carrying her like she weighed nothing, towards his room.

 **A/N Please review to tell me what you think, hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Thanks for reading x**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Here it is, I won't apologise for the long wait but I will warn you that this story is now being written whenever i can find the time and inspiration. I'm trying to juggle three stories (again! Seriously, you'd think I would've leant by now that it's not easy!) but yeah, I'll update whenever I can but its not going to be regular or even that often...**

 **Flight of a Phoenix**

Chapter 3

The air was cold. It froze Alice's cheeks and made her shudder. It was too cold for October.

"I don't think we should be here," Lily whispered. "Mad-Eye only wanted the area scouted out."

"There's something going on in there," Marlene muttered, apparently not having heard what the other two were saying. "I want to find out what it is."

"Marlene - no!" Lily snapped but Marlene had already taken off running towards the lights. "Shit!" She hissed and Alice jumped at the unlikely word coming from Lily's mouth. "Stupid, stupid..." She shook her head.

Alice got up and brushed herself off, "well I guess we should go and keep an eye on her."

Lily scowled and got up, "it would help if she wasn't so bloody irresponsible."

They'd nearly reached the lights when they heard shouts up ahead. Marlene had disappeared from view and there were a different set of bright flashes from that direction.

"Shit," Lily cursed, pulling out her wand. There was no point turning back now. Even if they could, neither of them would never leave Marlene, Alice just wished her friend had a bit more sense than to run off. Gritting her teeth, she pulled out her own wand and took off after Lily into the darkness, knowing as she did so that they were being stupidly reckless.

* * *

The door was thrown open with a loud crash and running footsteps pounded along the corridor before James appeared in Remus's living room, closely followed by Sirius who sounded out of breath. Both of them were looking freaked out.

"Relax, guys, they're fine -" Remus started, standing up from where he'd been kneeling next to Marlene, bandaging her arm up.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" James cut his friend off abruptly.

Remus's eyes widened in shock as he registered that James was shaking slightly. "James..."

"You could've been killed! You had instructions from Mad-Eye and, what, you just decided to ignore them?" Remus hadn't seen James this furious in a long time and Lily was looking very taken aback by it.

"James, we're fine -"

"That's not the point!" James interrupted her. "You got lucky, things might not go so well next time."

Remus opened his mouth but then on second thought closed it. As much as he didn't like it when James yelled like this, the girls had been stupid tonight and they needed a stern talking to. He couldn't do it - it wasn't his place to - and they wouldn't listen to Moody. James and Sirius were the best bet.

While James had been shouting, Sirius had darted across the room to place hands on either side of Marlene's face. "You alright?" He asked, eyes darting all over her face for signs of abuse.

"I'm fine," Marlene squirmed out of his grip.

"Padfoot, back me up here," James spun towards Sirius who slowly moved away from his girlfriend and looked grim.

"James is right," he said. "You've got to be more careful and not go running into dangerous situ -"

"Excuse me,"" Lily interrupted. "Says the two biggest rule-breakers I know!."

James ground his teeth so loudly, Remus heard it from the other side of the room. "That's not the point," he repeated. "We wouldn't do something as stupid as what you did!"

Marlene shook her head, "it was my fault," she cut over him. "I wanted to investigate further but these two didn't. They only came after me so I wouldn't get hurt."

Remus sat down on the sofa heavily and placed his head in his hands as chaos erupted around him.

"You did what?" Sirius turned to face Marlene disbelievingly. "Are you insane?"

"So McKinnon, you just decided to run off into a nest of Death Eaters and see what happened?" James snapped. "You could've gotten everyone killed!"

Marlene scowled, "I know," she muttered through gritted teeth. "It was a stupid thing to do."

"Stupid?" James looked like he was about to explode. "I can't believe you'd do such an idiotic, reckless thing McKinnon. You're supposed to be smart and you very nearly killed Lily and Alice!"

"Do you think I don't know that Potter?" Marlene snapped. Remus looked over and saw Lily sitting in a chair with her own head in her hands.

"I don't think you do," James shot back. "I don't think we can allow people like you to go on missions if you're going to endanger the whole thing!"

"What are you saying Potter?" Marlene folded her arms and frowned.

"Alright James, I think that's enough -" Sirius started, eyes widening as he realised where the conversation was headed.

"Of course you'd take her side!" James growled, "after all, if they'd all died, it wouldn't be your girlfriend who was innocent of blame would it?"

Remus jumped to his feet as Sirius stepped forwards. "That's enough, Prongs."

Lily too had gotten to her feet and was attempting to calm James by reaching out and grabbing his hand. "James, I think we should just go home."

James didn't move from where he was standing, almost nose to nose with Sirius.

"Just go James," Sirius muttered. "Go take Lily home."

Remus thought he sounded tired.

James seemed to deflate and he turned away, letting Lily pull him towards the door. He hesitated before looking back. "Mum says you're invited to Sunday lunch," his gaze lingered on Marlene for a second longer and there was a flicker of something in his eyes that told Remus he hadn't forgiven her. "All of you."

The door snapped shut behind them and Sirius let out a loud sigh and collapsed onto the chair that Lily had just vacated.

There was tense silence then Remus cleared his throat. "I think I'll go and put the kettle on," he said out loud then nodded to himself and exited the room as quickly as he could.

* * *

There was much ferocious banging on his door and it had woken Sirius up, something that was getting easier to do these days. Grumbling to himself as he fumbled around in the dark for his wand and clothes, he located a shirt and pulled it over his head. He yawned and padded through the house. By the time he'd reached the door, he was fully awake and alert. He wasn't expecting anyone at this hour and neither did he really fancy talking to anyone.

The person started knocking again and Sirius called grumpily "alright alright, I'm coming!" He unlocked the door and tightened his grip on his wand, thinking about Death Eaters. He pulled the door open and stared at James on the doorstep.

"Alright Prongs?" Sirius asked. This was his and James's version of a code word.

"Never better Pads," James answered, affirming that it was him. "Can we talk?"

Sirius nodded and pulled the door wider, stepping back to allow James past and glancing around before shutting it.

"Is Marlene in?" James asked, looking around the room as they entered the small kitchen.

"No," Sirius said, suddenly sleepy now that the potential threat of a death eater attack had passed. "Marcus is back from Spain so she's staying with her family for a while. I doubt we'll see much of her."

James nodded, sitting down in a chair and fidgeting slightly. "I want to ask your opinion on something and you have to answer honestly."

Sirius turned around from where he'd just put the kettle on to boil for some tea to look at his best friend, suddenly seeing that he seemed really nervous. "What?"

"I - well, I -"

Sirius groaned, "please just spit it out James!" He hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to listen to James stutter away.

"I'm going to ask Lily to marry me."

CRASH.

"Shit, Padfoot!" James jumped to his feet, trying to avoid the shards of broken china that went flying across the floor as Sirius dropped the cup he'd been holding.

Sirius hadn't even reacted to the shattered mug, he was staring at James like he'd never seen him before.

"Pads, you alright?" James asked tentatively. "I mean, she might not say yes but -"

"She'll say yes," Sirius said, voice sounding a lot calmer than the inner turmoil that seemed to be happening in his stomach.

James shifted from one foot to another, "I just wanted to y'know, tell you first. What do you think?"

Sirius smiled. It started off as a small smile but soon it was growing, until it was stretched across his face and making his cheeks hurt. "I think it's a fucking amazing idea Prongs."

James let out a splutter of laughter. "I thought you wouldn't think it was a good idea!" He confessed, abashed.

Sirius stepped forwards, narrowly avoiding a large sharp piece of cup, and grabbed James in a hug. "The only reason I would think it's a bad idea is because Evans is too good for you!"

James laughed again but this time it was relief-filled and hugged Sirius back tightly. "It won't change anything," he said after a while, pushing Sirius back and fixing him with a solemn look.

Sirius swallowed, knowing that James had reached the conclusion that Sirius had first come to when this revelation was revealed.

"I know," he said quietly.

James leaned forwards so their foreheads were touching, a gesture that they performed quite often in moments of high emotion. "You're my brother Pads, nothing will ever take that away."

Sirius squeezed his eyes shut to stop the moisture from leaking out and knew in his heart that James was the one person in his life who knew him better than he did. "Brothers," he echoed quietly.

* * *

They kept to the shadows, not out of choice, they had to to avoid being seen by enemies of the Dark Lord, yet it suited them. Shadows were comforting to them and they were comforting to him.

"Snape," growled the voice of their leader. Severus thought he recognised the voice of Avery. "What do you have to report?"

"Not a lot," Severus grumbled but cleared his throat anyway. "We have people tailing all the members of the Auror department and we are certain now that Harold Potter is a key member of the Order of the Phoenix."

Avery snorted, "that isn't news Snape."

Severus shrugged, "you said you wanted a progress report, what more do you want me to say?"

"I want names!" Avery growled. "I want the names of every single of that fucking organisation, where they live, who their families are, everything!"

Severus narrowed his eyes, Avery was sometimes incredibly stupid. "That takes time," he said coolly. "We don't have that sort of intel yet."

"Well get it, and don't report back until you have something useful for me to relay to the Dark Lord. He's not especially happy with us at the moment."

Severus knew better than to ask exactly who Avery meant by 'us'. Instead he cleared his throat, "we do have one name who is directly connected to Harold Potter - someone who is almost certainly a member of the Order..."

Avery stilled but Severus could tell he'd captured the senior Death Eater's attention. "Who?"

"His son," Severus said, finding it difficult not to spit out the words. "James Potter."

Avery was silent but Severus knew that he was thinking over those words, and how useful that information was.

"I think the Dark Lord would find my idea very interesting," Severus continued. "I'd appreciate it if you took me to him now."

Avery leant back, folding his arms and sneering. Severus could sense it, even if he couldn't see he other man's face under the dark goods they wore. "Not a chance, tell me and I'll relay it to the Dark Lord."

"And let you take all the credit? I don't think so," Snape sneered back. "No, I know the Dark Lord will want to hear this and I will tell him myself, so take me to him now."

Avery was hesitating but Severus knew that his resolve was faltering. That had been much easier than he'd thought it would be. Finally, Avery extended his arm. "Fine, come with me."

Severus grinned and took the outstretched arm, sucking in a deep breath before he was plunged into the constricting darkness and landing on his feet in the middle of a forest. Avery released him quickly and started walking away. "This way, Snape."

Severus followed him without question. This would be his finest hour. This would be the moment the destruction of James Potter would begin to develop.

 **please review, it makes my day to hear back from all you lovely people! :)**


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